Anthropic: This 5-year old US$380bn company is behind ChatGPT’s rival Claude and could IPO later this year!

Anthropic did not even exist 5 years ago, but its most recent funding round valued it at US$380bn. The company behind Claude, a major rival to ChatGPT, is more valuable than any company on the ASX (even CBA and BHP) and could IPO later this year. But while many investors would be familiar with OpenAI, Anthropic is arguably more of a mystery. Or at least, until a month ago when the company ran a Superbowl ad, and its boss Dario Amodei refused to hold hands with OpenAI’s Sam Altman.

Still, the company is probably not as well known as its major rival. Let’s change that.

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Anthropic: One of the most consequential AI companies out there

Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers Dario and Daniela Amodei, the company set out with a mission to build powerful AI systems that are safe, controllable and aligned with human values, using a training framework called constitutional AI to guide model behaviour more ethically and predictably compared with some rivals.

At its core, Anthropic develops the Claude series of large language models (LLMs) — generative AI systems capable of answering questions, drafting text, reasoning over documents, and powering downstream applications. The first Claude models became widely available in March 2023; since then, Anthropic has iterated rapidly, advancing through a sequence of models with increasingly sophisticated reasoning, coding and “agentic” capabilities.

Its most recent flagship models as of early 2026 include Claude Opus 4.6 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 — both designed to boost performance in complex reasoning, coding and long-context workflows while remaining faster and more cost-efficient.

The company is also behind Claude Code and Claude Cowork. The first of these is an agentic AI coding assistant and makes over US$1bn in annualised revenue in its own right. It lets users delegate code generation, debugging and other tasks via a command-line interface, while also supporting web and mobile integrations. The second is a technical extension of Claude Code, enabling AI to interact with files, organise folders, draft documents, compile reports and automate workplace workflows without requiring users to write code. This represents a broader push to make autonomous AI agents accessible beyond developers.

Anthropic’s product strategy has moved from basic language responses toward AI that can plan and execute multi-step tasks internally, blurring the line between assistant and collaborator.

The competitive positioning

Anthropic is unquestionably one of the closest rivals to OpenAI and ChatGPT. The Claude family has often been benchmarked strongly against GPT models in tasks involving reasoning, planning and coding, and Anthropic’s tools like Claude Code have evolved into serious commercial products that compete directly with OpenAI’s offerings (including GitHub Copilot and GPT-powered enterprise services).

Yes, Claude is not just a suite of freemium chatbots used by individuals on their own computers. Enterprises pay billions to get access to Claude. And for good reason, Claude focuses on safer, principle-aligned responses and enterprise-friendly tooling, and its push into codified, agentic automation (e.g., Claude Code and Cowork) reflects a strategy tailored to work workflows and automation beyond simple chat. Performance comparisons vary by task and model version, but both ecosystems drive innovation and pressure on each other

Its emphasis on safety, interpretability and enterprise control has resonated with customers seeking robust AI solutions without advertising-driven metrics or controversial monetisation models — Anthropic even ran Super Bowl ads promoting Claude’s ad-free stance in contrast to ChatGPT’s ad plans.

Rapid growth

Funding and growth have been extraordinary. After rapid early rounds, Anthropic closed a massive Series G in February 2026 raising about $30 billion at a reported $380 billion valuation, dwarfing many unicorns and putting it in the same league as the largest private tech companies globally. It reported an annualised revenue run-rate in the low-double-digit billions driven by enterprise adoption of Claude Code and API services.

But can this be sustained? It is a fascinating question. On one hand, its technology breadth — from foundational LLMs to agentic tools — and its massive valuation and funding give it resources rivaling large listed tech companies. On the other hand, it operates in an environment with giants like Microsoft, Google and Amazon investing billions in AI research, infrastructure and enterprise sales. Anthropic’s route to profitability and public markets will hinge on maintaining strong revenue growth and scaling enterprise adoption in the face of intensifying competition from both incumbents and emerging model developers

Conclusion

In summary, Anthropic has grown from a deep-tech startup into a global AI powerhouse in just a few years, creating a broad suite of AI tools and attracting enormous capital.

Its potential IPO in 2026 would be one of the year’s most watched listings, and its competitive stance relative to established giants like OpenAI, Google and Microsoft — especially in enterprise AI and agent-level automation — positions it as a serious threat and peer rather than a niche alternative.

Like it or not, the company is here to stay.